Okay. Let’s sprint through this one, shall we?
Pinot fucking noir. To get one thing out of the way: I love pinot noir. Christ alive, I love it. And this pinot noir is bloody delicious.
That’s probably all you need to know, isn’t it?
In case you’re still reading — rather than bombing down the A1 towards Stevenage in a hijacked articulated lorry in order to ramraid The Wine Society’s warehouse — I’ll give you a bit more. (And, um, they’ve sold out in any case. So save yourself the criminal record.)
It’s got that brilliant pinot noir tautness — a lithe-bodied, gymnastic suppleness — that I find goddamn bewitching. Then add that little spatter of muckiness. Oh, that sweet little spatter. Because this wine is as elegant and lithe and beautiful and charming as you like — but there’s that hint of filth in its eye. Goddamn.
So, yes, there’s the mellow red fruit, the ripeness. And there’s the earth, the muck, the sex.
Yup.
Grape Pinot Noir
Region Martinborough
Price £25 or so from The Wine Society (no longer available, sadly, but you might want to try the ‘second wine’ from the same producer); or Majestic has the 2009 for £30; £24 each if you buy a couple. Which you should.
It is absolutely lovely. Fortunately, although The Wine Society may have sold out, my local Majestic Wines has a case or two of both this and the Te Tera (also lovely).
Thanks very much, Ruari — I’ve just updated the post to include a link to Majestic.
Martinborough Vineyards make stunning wine. Their 2008 was one of my wines of the year last year, and a country mile better than Felton Road’s Central Otago examples.
I think from 2010 vintage on these are going to be more difficult to get in the UK as the winery is currently unlikely to store its wines in the London bond which means they will be difficult to distribute widely among good idnependents. Perhaps some enterprising merchant with plenty of cash and a boat moored on North Island will import them directly alongside the oceans of Marlborough sauvignon…
Their Manu Riesling and Sauvignons are also cracking. We sold the Riesling for a ridiculous £12.50 or something similar, and it tasted like good aged spatlese.
So, yeah, I’m a Martinborough Vineyard fan.